


Someone will love you (is it me?)

by Catsarecutebutaliens



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, F/M, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-22 09:34:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15578964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catsarecutebutaliens/pseuds/Catsarecutebutaliens
Summary: People told them they would break apart sooner or later, but she never wanted to believe it.





	Someone will love you (is it me?)

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to use a prompt, domesticity, but it didn't work out as planned. But hey, I wrote something while ignoring all the unfinished stories I still have.

People told them they would break apart sooner or later, but she never wanted to believe it. The thought was just so awfully comical, so completely irrational and absurd she didn't spend a second thinking about it. Not the first time it happened anyway. And not for the reasons she thought.

Surprisingly, Rhodey had been the first one to mention it, Tony not included, just shortly after she had started working for him. It had been a month, longer than any of his previous assistants had stayed, and she had met the best friend of her boss for the first time. Tony had been asleep, passed out in his bed surrounded by half-naked, decent looking people, and they had decided to stay until he woke up again, unwilling to leave him alone with strangers in a vulnerable position like that. Pepper was the one to open the wine and try to initiate small talk, but Rhodey ignored it.

"You know this won't last, right?" he had said, not even looking at her but the after-party chaos around them. She had been confused, at first, unsure what he meant. "Sooner or later he will get sick of you or you of him, as it always happens." After that, they had both drunken in silence until he had to leave for his job. Pepper had thought about it a lot, even without him prompting it. But a person so close to Tony saying it to her face, it had changed her perspective on their weird work relationship. Sometimes, years later, she had wondered whether he had known it back then.

The next one had been Obediah Stane. Over and over again he let it slip during their talks, how she wouldn't last and be fired soon, how he actually doesn't care about her or anyone else. His words were quiet and manipulative but persistent and they got stuck in her mind even more than Rhodey's words. A year into the job he stopped though, and as time went on she forgot about that as well. She had stayed, after all, maybe this would last for a while longer.

It hadn't been all personal talks, Tony was way too famous for no one to comment on them, on her. Tabloids, newspapers, celebrities, journalists, random people on social media - it reached its peak after a week of working for him, the time his assistants usually lasted, until it slowly but gradually died down. Pepper was only really affected by it in the beginning, young and insecure as she was when she first started working for him. Over time, she grew quite but not fully immune to it and she stopped caring soon enough. It was only the press, after all, right? Not something she actually needed to care about. 

Year after year passed and the likeliness of her getting fired grew smaller with every week, every month until everyone was convinced she would practically stay forever. Of course, now people got interested in their relationship even more. Everyone assumed she was sleeping with him, or Stane for that matter, in order to keep her job, which every involved person denied more than once. Unfortunately, this was one of the rumors which never really ceased. At some point, though, after Iron Man had happened, it became the truth, at least the sex part did.

Pepper became the CEO of Stark Industries and new, uglier stories surfaced. Nothing she - they - couldn't handle. One suggestion, though, wasn't particularly new. Now it was either one or the other. She would either be fired or he would break up with her, followed by various reasons, one more imaginary than the other. They laughed at it, ignored it for the most part and went one. Maybe they should have listened.

More time passed, the Avengers happened, people screwed up and then, one final evening, they got engaged. At this point, any doubts about their relationship seemed unjustified and misplaced. Tony Stark, forever bachelor, and god of one-night-stands, was settling down. She was the perfect fit for him in the end, right? When people started to expect offsprings, they laughed at it.

"You know," he said, his fingers tangled in her hair, her head on his chest, "I really like the kid. I seem to be doing something right." Pepper laughed, looking up at him with soft eyes and a smile.  
"You two do make a good pair. And he really seems to like you, sees you as a father figure. Ever thought of adopting him?" She laughed and he joined her shortly after.  
It was all silly and playing around. Well, it was for her. And for him?  
"We should have kids. Or a kid. At least one. I would like that," he said, pressing a kiss to her hair.

Tony was serious. It took her another month to realize he actually wanted children and when she did, she wished they had been right all those years ago. Because now, breaking his heart would kill them both. Pepper tried to want it, she really, really did. She tried to be excited and imagine their life with a child in it. She tried to imagine painting a small bedroom and deciding on baby names, tried to imagine herself pregnant and happy. She tried.

But whenever her thoughts wandered into her future, she saw only the two of them, maybe the bots, too, growing old and being together until death did them apart. Never once did she see a child with them. Just the thought made her want to throw up. Pepper loved him more than any other person. Tony was her soulmate. She wanted to erase the `but´ which inevitably followed this thought. Sometimes, he made he forget about it, only for it to show up time and time again. 

The wedding was inching closer and anxiety settled in, she wanted to tell him yet didn't know how. She was afraid of the consequences.   
It was a month away when she finally blurted it out into their empty living room, huddled into his side.   
"I don't want kids," she whispered and could feel the tears coming before he even answered.  
"What?" Tony's face showed genuine confusion and she quickly averted her gaze, repeating her words with a trembling voice.  
"I don't want children. I tried to, I did. But I can't." Silence settled over them and time seemed to freeze.  
"I love you," she added, trying to make it sound less harsh, "I love you more than anything."

Oh, how much more she would have said if she had known how it would end.


End file.
